Tabula Rose
by Sobriety
Summary: Sometimes, all you need for a fresh start . . . is a fresh start.  KiGo.
1. Heather and Rose

**DISCLAIMER:** "Kim Possible" and all characters within (c) The Walt Disney Company and its related entities. Kim Possible created by Mark McCorkle & Bob Schooley. All rights reserved.

**SUMMARY: **Sometimes, all you need for a fresh start . . . is a fresh start. KiGo.

**TYPE:** Kim/Shego, Slash

**RATING:** T, for same sex relationships and mild naughty words

**NOTES:** Set about 12 months after "Graduation" and acknowledging everything from the TV show as canon. This is bubblegum fiction, people. Don't expect anything deep or epic. In fact, expect it to consist of exactly two chapters :)

* * *

The green woman awoke, conscious first of a heavy pounding in her skull and then of a weight pressing onto her chest. She opened her eyes, finding herself nose to nose with the dust-streaked face of an elfin redhead. _She's cute ... and heavier than she looks._ The green woman gently grasped the redhead's shoulders and eased herself out from beneath the other woman. Even that simple touch revealed the reason for the redhead's surprising heft: that slender body was all whipcord muscle, lean and firm._ Whoever she is, she works hard for that body._

Once she was free, the green woman checked herself and her companion for obvious signs of injury. Despite being covered in dust and smelling like they'd each run ten miles, they both seemed unhurt, beyond a few minor scrapes and bruises. Satisfied that neither of them needed urgent medical attention, the green woman sat back and regarded the unconscious youngster.

"So gorgeous," she mused to herself. "Who the hell are you? For that matter, who the hell am _I_?"

* * *

The redhead stirred, then sat up slowly, massaging her temples. The green woman watched her silently, waiting until the other woman noticed her to give a slightly bashful wave.

"Hey."

"Hey." The redhead answered, her expression guarded. "Uh ... who are you?"

"Wish I knew." The green woman shrugged. "So, Rose ... I guess that means you can't remember anything either, huh?"

"Rose? Is that my name?"

"Don't know. But I figure I have to call you something. And since you're a pretty redhead with green eyes, 'Rose' came to mind ... you can pick something else if you don't like it."

The newly-christened Rose gave her a bashful smile.

"Rose is fine. Better that than something like 'Carrot-Top' or 'Pumpkin'."

The green woman's lips quirked.

"I'm pretty sure I'd only call you Pumpkin if I wanted to annoy you. And if I ever call you Carrot-Top, you have my permission to hurt me."

"We need a name for you, too." Rose decided. "How about Heather?"

"For the skin, right?" The question got an answering nod. "It'll do. Heather and Rose it is."

"People aren't normally green, are they?" Rose asked tentatively, her brow furrowing in a way that Heather found rather distracting.

"I don't think so. But it didn't surprise me to see my hands this color, so I guess it's normal for me."

"Yeah." The redhead nodded once more. "When I saw you, I thought 'people aren't usually that color', but it didn't seem weird that _you_ were green ... whoever you were. But I don't know why."

"I think we must have known each other before whatever happened ... happened. So you're used to me being this way, even if we can't remember it."

"Makes sense. Well, we have names now, even if we don't know who we are, where we are, or why."

"Sounds like it. In addition to a name, I've got a killer headache ... you too?"

"Yeah."

"Right. So _something_ happened to us. And now we can't remember anything about ourselves, but we can remember how to talk and more or less what the world is like ... or at least, I assume you remember what cars and TV and the internet are, like I do?"

The redhead nodded, looking around thoughtfully. The two women were in a plain grey corridor, the walls and ceiling of concrete. To Rose's left, the corridor was closed off with rubble. To her right, it disappeared into gloom, alleviated only occasionally by a dimly flickering light.

"No windows." She observed. "I think we might be underground."

Heather grunted her agreement. "Yeah. Am I the only one who's thinking the words 'secret lair'?"

"That's what I get, too."

"Huh. So we're what ... spies? Thieves? Superheroes? Supervillains?"

"Maybe." Rose grinned at the idea. "Do you feel super? Or villainous?"

Heather laughed. Gingerly levering herself to her feet, she raised her fists.

"I. Am. Evil!" She bellowed to her audience of one, who gave a small giggle at the display. "No, the only feeling I get from that, is that my head prefers me not to shout, right now. Should we see what's down the corridor?"

"Well, before we leave maybe we should see what we're carrying?" Rose suggested. "We could have ID or something?"

"You might." Heather gestured down at the skintight green and black costume she wore. "I don't think this little get-up has much room for pockets."

"There's a pouch on your ankle." Rose pointed out.

"So there is." She checked within. "Huh. A nail file."

"Good to see you come prepared for every eventuality." Rose teased lightly, digging through her own small pack.

"Oh, and what have you got, Ms Smartypants?"

"... a grapple gun that looks like a hairdryer."

"Really?" Heather grabbed the item in question and examined it with mixed amusement and interest. "The whole spies or thieves thing seems to be getting more likely."

"I don't think I'm a thief." Rose frowned.

"Why not?"

"I just don't feel like I am. Stealing is wrong."

"Huh." Heather was non-committal. Stealing didn't sound so bad to her. _Not from the government or big corporations, anyway. It's not like I'd mug a kid for his lunch money, or something like that. _"So ... what else you got?"

"Compact. Lipstick –" there was a sudden flash of red light, "- which is apparently a laser. It's like something out of a Bond film –"

"A what film?"

"I'm not sure what that meant. It just came out. Oh! A bill fold!"

"A bill fold?" Heather smirked. "That's kinda butch, don't you think, gorgeous?"

Rose gave her a frown.

"I'm not the one making all the comments about how attractive another woman is."

Heather shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure I'm into girls."

"Oh." Rose blinked as she processed this. "How do you know?"

"The same way you know you're not a thief. It just feels right."

"So you're a lesbian?"

"Maybe. The idea of being with a guy doesn't feel actively unpleasant to me, but I'd definitely pick a woman over a guy if I had the choice." Heather mused. "I guess if we _need_ a label, I'm a lesbian. So, Rose: what about you? Boys or girls?"

"... I don't know." The redhead looked surprised by her own admission.

"Really?" Heather considered this. "How can you not know?"

"I just ... I just don't. Neither idea makes me go 'ick', but I don't instantly think 'yay guys!' or 'yay girls!' either. Maybe ..." The redhead trailed off and shrugged, obviously a little uncomfortable with the topic. She opened the bill fold. "It looks like, whatever I do for a living, it doesn't pay well. There's just four singles in here."

"Any ID?"

"Yeah. A driver's license from some place called 'Colorado'. I'm not sure what day it is, but when I look at my date of birth on this, it makes me I feel like I'm twenty ... which I'd guess makes me four or five years younger than you, though I could be off on either of our ages. Apparently my name is Kimberly Anne Possible. "

"Kimberly ... ? Your parents named you _Kim Possible_? What kind of monsters are they?"

"Maybe it's a code-name, or something." The redhead suggested.

"Let's hope so." Heather teased. "So do you want me to call you Kim or Kimberly, now?"

"I guess I should start thinking of myself as 'Kim', but you can keep calling me Rose if you like. I kinda like it." The redhead was still looking through the bill fold, itemizing the contents. "A Club Banana Staff Discount Card, and a pre-paid credit card, both in the name Kim Possible. Oh, and a picture of a blond guy ..." she paused, "He has what looks like a mutant hamster on his shoulder ... I think I know him."

"Makes sense, if his picture is in your pocket." Heather spoke neutrally, suppressing an irrational impulse to plasma-fry the photograph. _Wait, plasma-fry? What?_

"Uh ... Heather ... why is your hand glowing?"

"What?" Heather looked down, and nearly choked. Her right hand was enveloped in green flames! "Gah! Put it out!"

"How?" Kim asked, looking around desperately for water or any other means of extinguishing the blaze. "I don't even know how it started! Does it hurt?"

"Of course it –" Heather stopped. "... actually, no, it doesn't. Maybe it's just an illusion?" She stretched out her hand and stared at it.

"They're real flames." Kim assured her, backing off a little. "I can feel the heat. Can you turn them off?"

"I don't know how I turned them on! Any ideas?"

"Try visualizing your hand without the flames?"

Heather narrowed her eyes, trying to imagine the green flames going out. They immediately started to fade, and she was so surprised she lost her focus, causing them to blaze up again.

"Oops." She tried again, and this time the flames winked out. "Huh, I guess the superheroes thing is back on the table. Or at least the super part. I don't feel all that heroic." She caught the crestfallen look on the redhead's face at that comment, and rapidly backpedaled. "But hey, I can't remember my name, so what would I know?"

Kim nodded, doing her best to be optimistic.

"Well, you've got the costume and the powers, so it seems like you might be a hero, however you feel. I wonder where I fit into that?"

Heather grinned.

"Trust me, cutie, I'll fit you in wherever you like."

"Heather!" The redhead blushed furiously, and focused her attention on the bill fold once more. "Hey ... there's another picture in here, slipped in at the back of the card holder."

"Oh?" Heather tried not to show her irritation. "Your mystery blond boyfriend again?" _Great job on the hiding the irritation there, genius_.

"Not exactly." Kim turned the photo around.

"Huh." Heather clamped down on the urge to punch the air in triumph. _In your face, blond boy!_ The picture was from one of those cheap photo booths she knew could be found in every mall in the country. Whatever country it was they lived in. It showed a smiling Kim, with an equally happy Heather beaming over her shoulder. "Looks like you and I are friends." _Maybe more, if I'm lucky._

"It's kinda weird though." Kim agreed thoughtfully.

Heather blinked.

"Weird?"

"Well ... the picture of the guy was folded in with the bills. This one was tucked in behind one of the cards. I mean, if I hadn't been looking closely at everything in here, I wouldn't have found it."

"So?"

"I could be reading too much into it, but that seems like I was hiding it. Which means that I don't want people to know about it."

"Oh." Heather felt crushed. "That can't be good."

"Well, it may not be _that_ bad." Kim offered. She caught the green woman's disbelieving look and explained. "It could just mean I'm not 'out'."

"You mean if we're a couple, rather that just friends?" Heather tried not to sound _too_ hopeful. _Any explanation that involves being with hot stuff like you is fine with me._

"Yeah. It's hard to imagine any other reason I'd hide it. You don't look much different in the photo than from now, so I figure it's at most a couple of years old. And we were obviously having fun together when we took it."

"It could be that we were just friends."

"Then why hide the photo? Why keep it in my bill fold at all? People usually only do that with family."

"Then who's the blond guy?"

"... well I don't have a ring, so we're not married or engaged. Maybe we're related."

"I don't see any family resemblance." Heather couldn't help but say. _Damn it, you fool, stop suggesting that this guy might be her lover._

"No." Kim admitted. "I guess we need to avoid jumping to conclusions about anything. It could turn out that you and I are deadly enemies."

"That'd suck." The words popped out of Heather's mouth before she thought about what she was saying. Kim gave her a bashful smile.

"Yeah, it would."

There was a moment of not quite comfortable silence, then Heather cleared her throat.

"So ... is that all you're carrying?"

The redhead dug through her belongings for a while longer.

"Seems like it." She reported, frowning slightly. "I can't shake the feeling that there _is_ something missing, though. Something I usually carry."

"Maybe it's under that." Heather gestured at the rubble-filled corridor.

"Could be." Kim didn't feel happy about the idea, though she wasn't sure why. "I guess we're done here for now. We can come back later if we need to, but for now I think we should follow your suggestion and take a look down there." She pointed along the dimly-lit corridor. "We'll have to be careful though, it's pretty dark."

"I think I can help with that." Heather held out her right hand and imagined it starting to glow. Slowly, pale green flames appeared, lighting the area around them more clearly.

"Cool trick. Maybe I should give you a superhero name, like Firefly or Nightlight." Kim grinned.

The green woman gave a snort of derision. "_Nightlight_? I don't think so, Princess. Besides, you already got to pick 'Heather'."

Kim quirked an eyebrow.

"Did you just call me 'Princess'?"

"It just popped out." Heather flushed a deeper shade of green. "Sorry."

"No big." Kim waved it off, then blinked at her own words. "Huh. Saying that felt familiar." She licked her lips, a little nervous. "So ... looks like you had a pet name for me."

"Looks like."

Neither quite knew what to say to that. At last, Kim sighed.

"We should see what's down the corridor." Shyly, she offered her hand to the green woman. "This place might not be safe ... we should hang on to each other."

"Yeah, we should." Her heart skipping a little, Heather accepted the offer.

* * *

The two women walked for a few minutes. The concrete corridor was straight and windowless, broken only occasionally by a flickering neon light or an inset steel door. None of the doors would open.

"Maybe I could melt through one?" Heather offered.

"Better not." Kim shook her head. "We don't know how using your power affects you. You might hurt yourself if you overdo it. And even if it worked, there'd be molten metal all over the place. That sounds bad."

Heather snorted.

"You have a gift for the obvious, Princess." She'd decided she liked the nickname.

"Hey," Kim gave a small pout. Despite the brevity of the expression, Heather felt her breath catch. "If I'm your Princess, you should be nicer to me." She gently bumped shoulders with the other woman to show she was teasing.

"You're bossy, too. Maybe I should upgrade you from Rose Princess to my Red Queen."

"I guess we'd better hope your name's not 'Alice'." Kim said, then frowned. "Any idea why I just said that?"

"Nope."

"Me neither."

* * *

"You know what's weird?" Heather asked, a minute or so later.

"You mean apart from waking up in a secret lair with a beautiful amnesiac superhero and a case of amnesia of my own?" Kim glanced sidelong at the other woman, a little nervous about how her comment would be received, but unable to resist testing the waters.

"Well, when you put it like _that_ ..." Heather grumbled. Then she stopped. "Beautiful?"

"Well ... you are." Kim shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. She struggled to cover her comment. "Even if they're just friends, women are allowed to say that stuff to each other, right?"

The green woman cocked her head to one side, as the redhead tried to will away the blush she knew was rising up her neck. Heather released the redhead's fingers and lightly caressed the flushed skin.

"How far does your bloom go, Rose?" she teased gently, and Kim felt the heat rush straight to her face. "You're trying to work out if we _like_ each other, aren't you?"

_Busted_. Kim nodded. "Well ... you _are_ beautiful. And you seem pretty cool. And ... I did have that photo of us hidden in my stuff." Both women were silent for a moment, considering the idea.

"Don't rush it, Princess." Heather recommended, at last. "Just let whatever happens, happen. But that does get me back to my original point. What's weird is the way we've reacted so calmly to this situation. Sure, we've asked all the obvious questions: who are you, who am I, where are we? But we've been calm about the whole thing, trying to reason it out ... wouldn't most people be panicking?"

Kim considered the question.

"I guess it _is_ odd." She said at last. "I didn't think about it before, but this sitch is kinda weird, isn't it? And yet it feels like no big."

Heather quirked an eyebrow.

"This 'sitch'? Sounds like we found another of your expressions."

"Yeah." Kim agreed, then suddenly raised an arm and pointed down the corridor, "Hey ... is that light up ahead?"

"Good eyes, Princess. Let's find out what it is." Heather grabbed the smaller woman by the hand and dragged her toward the dim glow.

* * *

"I think we've found my bedroom."

Kim stood at the doorway and surveyed the room. The carpets were black, broken up by a green throw-rug, two green chairs, and an unmade green-quilted bed with black sheets and pillows.

"What makes you think this might be yours?" She teased.

"Ha ha." Heather gave her a mock glare. The green woman moved over to the walk-in wardrobe, which contained several copies of her green and black catsuit, and a smattering of other outfits in similar hues. "You're hilarious."

"So this is not the time for a line about thinking you were out of the closet?" Kim smilingly teased.

Heather just as smilingly flipped her a one-fingered salute, then pulled out a green t-shirt and a black pair of jeans.

"I'm going to check the bathroom and see if the water's still on. Hopefully it will be, though I doubt the heater is. Of course, I have my own heat supply." She grinned. "If I can run a bath, I'm going to rinse off this dust and crap and get changed. You wanna look around the room while you wait? I'll only be a few minutes."

Kim shook her head. _I so want to go through all her stuff and find out what she means to me ... but I would freak if someone went through my stuff while I wasn't there_.

"It's your room. I think you should go through it first, in case there's anything private."

"So you're just gonna sit here while you wait?"

"Pretty much."

"You could always come scrub my back." Heather suggested, her tone light. The comment immediately brought to mind images of wet, soapy green skin.

_Bad thoughts. Bad! _Kim summoned up a bashful grin.

"What happened to not rushing things?"

"Oh fine. Throw my own words back at me." Heather pouted. "Actually, why not spend the time going through the closet? You need a wash as badly as I do. Maybe you'll find something that fits."

"I doubt it. You're taller than I am, and a lot more ..." Kim gestured vaguely.

"Fat?"

"No!"

"Buxom? Curvy? Voluptuous? Endowed?"

"Annoying."

* * *

"God, that feels so much better." Heather emerged from the bathroom with her hair bound up in an emerald green towel. "Oh, you found some clothes?" She walked over to the easy chair where they were draped and had a quick look at them. Olive-green cargo pants, and a black midriff top in a size that would cut off the circulation to her brain if she tried to wear it.

"Yeah." Something about Kim's voice sounded odd. Heather glanced at her worriedly. The redhead was perched on the edge of the bed - which was now made, she noticed, an activity she considered the biggest waste of time on the planet. The younger woman continued speaking without looking up at her. "They were in a plastic bag at the back of one of the shelves."

"What's wrong, Princess?"

"I ... I made the bed."

"I can see that. I assume this is something more than just thinking I'm a slob for not having done it already?"

"I ... found this." The redhead offered the green-skinned woman a magazine.

"If it's a skin mag I swear I only buy it for the articles." The joke didn't raise a response, and Heather took the magazine, unrolling it to see the title. "Oh."

"Villains Monthly." Kim's tone was miserable.

"Well ..." _Crap_. "... maybe we're both villains."

"I'm _not_ a villain."

"How can you know that?"

"How do you know you like girls?"

"... I just do."

"Exactly."

"Okay." Heather had to admit that made as much sense as anything else did, today. "Well, this doesn't have to mean _I'm _a villain, right? Maybe I'm a hero and this is just research -"

"Page twelve."

Heart sinking, the green woman flicked to the designated spot.

"'Where did Shego?'" Heather read the title. "Nice proof-reading -" she broke off as she noticed the picture on the facing page. It showed her twisting in mid-air, and hurling green fire at a lithe, redheaded figure ... dressed in olive-green cargo pants and a black midriff top. "Aw crap."

"We're enemies." The redhead sounded miserable about the idea.

"This magazine could have been planted by whoever wiped our memories." Heather cast around desperately for an explanation. As she spoke, she caught sight of the caption on the photo.

_One of Shego's many encounters with teen hero, Kim Possible._

"What the hell kind of name is 'Shego'?"

"Yours, apparently." Kim crossed her arms over her chest. "You're a villain, and I'm a hero, and this sitch is _so_ ferociously the drama."

"Wait, wait, wait." The newly-christened Shego held up a hand. "Did you read the rest of the article?"

"What was the point?"

"Well, listen to this: 'Former villainous glamor girl Shego has not been seen for 12 months, since _assisting former nemesis Kim Possible to save the planet from alien invasion_."

Kim blinked. "It does not say that."

"It does." Shego nodded emphatically.

"_Alien invasion?_"

"Alien invasion." The green woman threw back the magazine and waited for Kim to read the text. "See? Saved the world twelve months ago, got an amnesty on previous crimes, then disappeared. I'm reformed."

"You're a reformed supervillain who _just happens_ to live in a secret underground lair?" Kim sounded skeptical.

"Okay, I admit I haven't worked out all the details yet." Shego shrugged. "All I'm saying is let's not start re-enacting that picture until we know what's going on."

The redhead frowned, then finally nodded. "I guess that makes sense." She stood and walked over to the chair, taking care not to pass too close to Shego. "I'm going to get changed."

"Let me heat up some water for you so you can have a bath."

"No, that's okay -"

"_Kim_." The green woman interrupted. "We will work this out. You'll feel better after a bath, trust someone who knows."

"... I do need one." The teen hero ran a hand through her hair and grimaced at the dust on her hand. "Fine. You promise you won't run off while I'm in there?"

"I promise."

"And you won't attack me, either?"

"Trust me, Princess, if I saw you wet and naked, fighting would _not_ be the first thing on my mind."

Which was, on reflection, not the best choice of response for calming the younger woman's nerves.

* * *

"Okay, you were right about the bath." Kim admitted, when she emerged ten minutes later. She ran her fingers through hair now refreshingly free of dust. "But we really need to find out what's going on with us, Hea ... Shego."

"We will." The green woman answered. "There must be something in this dump that will fill in the blanks."

"I hope so." The redhead sighed. _Enemies! I can't believe I thought we might be lovers._ None of this seemed right. Why would she keep a photo of an enemy? If they'd fought so many times, why had her first instinct been to trust the older woman? Was she always so easily taken in by someone attractive and charming? _So the drama._

They continued on their way along the subterranean corridors. As before, they did not speak much, though what had previously been a comfortable silence was now filled with uncertainty and distrust. They walked on opposite sides of the corridor, a wide space between them.

"Another door up ahead." Kim said at last. Shego grunted, apparently not feeling the observation needed an articulate response. The redhead sneaked a quick glance at the green woman, noting the downcast of Shego's mouth. It seemed Kim was not the only one who missed their earlier camaraderie.

Somehow, that made her feel a little better.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah, amnesia. A plot device that keeps on giving. In this case, it allows me to play with who the characters are. This is because I'm positing that some aspects of our character are innate, and some are developed by our experiences. Hence "Heather" knows she is gay (which for her is an innate part of who she is), but has a more mellow personality than Shego is on the show (because she hasn't dealt with all the crap that Shego has). While "Rose" knows she is not a thief (innate Kimness) but doesn't have as clearly a defined sexuality.


	2. Kim and Shego

The door was another of the large, vertically-opening steel kind they'd encountered earlier. Unlike those, however, this one stood partly open, with a space of about six or eight inches between the bottom of the door and the floor beneath it.

Kim crouched down and looked through the gap. Then she shook her head.

"Pitch black in there. I can't see a thing."

"I'll slide under and check it out." Shego offered.

The redhead shot her a cautious look. "Maybe I should go."

"I have a built-in light source." The green woman pointed out, giving a brief flare of low-powered plasma.

"There could be flammable gases in there." Kim folded her arms, an obstinate tilt to her jaw. "I can use the laser lipstick for light, and it wouldn't set them off." She tried not to think about why she was worried for the safety of a woman she now knew to be her enemy.

"There could be other dangers in there."

"I can take care of myself."

Shego growled in frustration, then sighed. "Look ... Kim ... I'm sure you can. But you're some big shot world hero. I'm just a thief no-one's even seen for a year. If there is something dangerous in there, no-one's going to know or care if it gets me."

"So you're saying my life is worth more than yours?" The redhead felt a flair of annoyance at the idea.

Shego shrugged. "I think most people would agree with me."

"That's -" Kim's reply cut off as Shego suddenly flared her plasma with intense light. Dazzled, the redhead instinctively threw up an arm and ducked, fending off an attack that never came.

Instead, the green-skinned woman dropped to the floor and slid smoothly under the door.

Kim stamped her foot. "Damn it, Shego!"

"Sorry, Princess." Shego's voice floated through the gap. She didn't even bother to sound contrite. "Okay, I'm going to turn my powers on as low as I can, but something might go wrong. Step away from the door."

"_So_ not happening." Kim dropped flat and slid through the gap.

"Oh great." Kim knew Shego was rolling her eyes. The gesture was invisible in the darkness, but still immediately apparent from the green woman's tone. "So now if there _is_ something dangerous, we'll both die."

"No." Kim folded her arms. "If there's something dangerous, we'll both face it."

Shego gave up the argument. "Fine. I'm turning my plasma on, now."

Green light blossomed slowly, revealing a large, warehouse-like space. Large, block-like structures filled the room, creating long corridors between them and reinforcing the idea of a warehouse.

"What are they?" Kim asked.

"Look like refrigeration units of some kind." Shego pointed to the rear of one of the blocks. "And there's a sign there. 'Warning: Contents under pressure'."

"There are also burn marks." Kim padded over to one of the refrigerators and inspected it more closely. "I guess you were fighting in here?"

Shego adopted a tone of martyrdom. "Oh sure. There are burn marks, so you automatically blame the human zippo."

Kim could not help but give a flicker of a smile. "If the shoe fits ..."

"Looks like I damaged this one pretty badly." Shego had moved onto another refrigerator. "Melted the side open."

"Wow. You're hot stuff." Kim froze, tongue-tied, as she realized the implication of her words, then babbled. "Capable of generating some hot stuff, I mean."

"Both statements are true." Shego smirked. "Of course, it does mean that whatever was in this thing, I ruptured both the pressure seal and the cooling circuits." She snuffed out her plasma. "Crap. Could be gas in here, after all."

"We haven't blown up or choked to death, so if there was, it's either dispersed or isn't harmful." Kim's voice came from closer than she expected. The green woman was grateful the darkness covered her startled reaction. "Oh, sorry ... did I scare you?"

"You can see?"

"Nope. But you squeaked."

"I did _not_."

"_So_ did." It felt right to banter with the green woman; how could they be enemies?

Shego turned her plasma back on and growled in mock-irritation. "You're impossible."

"That's the name." Kim replied lightly, dancing aside when the green woman made a half-hearted swipe at her. As she did so, the redhead spotted something lying amidst the debris of the damaged fridge. "Hey, what's this?"

'This' was a small metal and plastic device, with a touchpad and a screen.

"Whatever it is, it's yours." Shego observed.

"How do you know?" Kim asked, looking at the device curiously. It _did_ feel familiar.

Wordlessly, Shego twisted the device in the redhead's hand, showing her the 'KP' symbol emblazoned on the back.

"The Kimmunicator." The name popped into her head.

A black eyebrow rose. "Seriously, Pumpkin?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed. "I thought you weren't going to call me that unless you wanted to irritate me?"

"Turn about is fair play." Shego declared piously. "Can you make it work?"

"Worth a try. It looks simple enough to operate." Kim bit her lip and looked around. "But we're under ground somewhere. A signal might not get through." She shrugged and pressed the button.

"Kim!" the exclamation startled them both. It came from the small device; or more accurately, from the plump, dark-skinned boy who had appeared on the device's screen. "Where have you been? I've been trying to raise you for hours."

"Um ... hi." Kim gave the screen a cautious wave. "I guess we, uh, know each other?"

The boy frowned. "It's Wade, Kim. You know ... boy genius? Webmaster of your site? Designer of the Kimmunicator?"

"We lost our memories." Shego supplied helpfully. Onscreen, Wade's eyes suddenly grew wide.

"_Shego _is there?"

"Apparently." Kim frowned. Clearly this Wade knew who they were.

Wade's perplexed look was still firmly in place. "... and the two of you aren't trying to beat each other senseless?"

Well, that was a downer.

"So we _are_ enemies?" Kim asked, her heart sinking.

"Of course." Wade answered immediately. Then he paused. "Well ... _were_ enemies. Mostly. You teamed up to fight the Lorwardian invasion. And there'd been a couple of times before that you worked together. Mostly things to do with Shego's brothers."

The green woman looked up, her interest clearly sparked. "I have brothers? How many?"

"Uh ... four, most of the time." Wade was clearly nonplussed by Shego's interest. Which probably explained the oddness of his answer. _Most of the time? _"And Kim has two."

_I have brothers! _"Spankin'!"

* * *

"Okay ... you guys really _have_ lost your memories."

"Okay, Wade. What's the sitch?" A few minutes later, Kim and Shego sat on the edge of one of the undamaged refrigerators, the Kimmunicator between them. The initial attempt to get information out of the young man had devolved into chaotic shouting and threats of violence. Both women had now promised to be on their best behavior.

"Kim." Wade started with the redhead. "You finished high school last year, and you're currently taking a year-long break before going into college. You've spent most of that year helping Global Justice ... they're this international police force type deal ... decommission old bases that belonged to Doctor Drakken. He was this mad scientist type -"

"Wait." Shego interrupted. "They had a high school kid doing this?"

"I've finished high school." Kim pointed out, primly. On the screen, however, Wade was nodding.

"Kim's basically been doing the world-saving gig for about five years now."

Kim looked surprised. "With these Global Justice people?"

"Mostly freelance." Wade explained. "I'm your tech support."

"So it was just you and me doing this?"

"... well, no. Ron used to tag along on a lot of your missions."

"Ron?" Kim tested out the name. "Blonde guy? Weird pet?"

"Yes." Wade nodded. "You remember him?"

"We found a picture." Shego wasn't interested in hearing more about the blonde buffoon. "Get to the point, nerdlinger." She stopped, and frowned. _Where did 'nerdlinger' come from?_

"Drakken was one of your most frequent adversaries." If Wade objected to the name he'd been given, he didn't show it. "Along with his henchwoman ... that would be you, Shego."

"Henchwoman? Me? That's ridiculous!" Shego snapped. "I should be the master-criminal. Coming up with the plans, organizing the minions ..." she trailed off. _God, that sounds like a lot of work_. "Henchwoman. Check."

Wade smothered a grin. "Anyway, about a year ago, there was an alien invasion -" He stopped as he saw the two women's matching looks of skepticism and shrugged. "Honest guys, I know it sounds like something out of a cartoon, but that's what happened."

Kim was impatient to get to the end of the story. "Okay. Alien invasion. Then what?"

"Well, the four of you ... that's you and Ron, Kim, and Shego and Drakken ... all worked together to stop the Lorwardians. You all got medals, and Drakken and Shego got full global pardons."

Shego interrupted. "So we're not wanted criminals any more?"

"Um, I guess not." Wade rubbed his chin. "Drakken definitely isn't. He's joined GJ and is helping them shut down all his old labs. You're actually in the last of them, now."

"What about _me_?" Shego didn't care about this Drakken idiot.

"There are no current warrants for your arrest, but you've basically disappeared for the last twelve months. No-one knew where you were." Wade shrugged. "I guess you were hiding in this base the whole time."

"I was here to decommission the place, right?" Kim mused. "So what was stored here? Anything dangerous?"

Wade shook his head. "Nothing life-threatening. That's why we left it until last. There were just ..." his fingers flew on the keyboard. "... some experimental gases. Various effects, but all temporary and mild. They'd been put under pressure to liquefy them, and then refrigerated. Cleaning the place up was supposed to be 'no big'."

"So ..." Kim did her best to look like she was just offering a hypothetical. "... say I came here and ran into Shego unexpectedly. Would we probably end up fighting?"

"Almost certainly." Wade's answer was emphatic. "Fighting ... it's what you two _did_."

Shego took up the 'hypothetical'. "If we did fight, and one of the refrigerators got damaged, some kind of gas might have escaped. Would any of them cause our amnesia?"

Wade punched some queries into his computer, then nodded. "Compound 5446. According to Drakken's notes, it was supposed to be the first step in a brainwashing process. The compound would block the victim's access to their own identity and beliefs, allowing Drakken to replace them with those he had prepared."

"This was considered 'no big'?" Kim was incredulous.

"Only because it never worked properly." Wade explained. "It blocked some of the subject's memories, but a lot of their most central beliefs and identity went unaltered."

Shego nodded. "So you could make Kim forget her name, but not her basic do-gooder nature?"

"That's pretty much it, yes." Wade agreed. "Even worse, from Drakken's point of view ... better from ours ... is that the effects were temporary. Original memories began returning after a few hours, and were completely restored within a week. So you're both going to be fine."

The dark-skinned boy sat back with a smile, obviously content that there was nothing more to worry about.

Kim and Shego, on the other hand, exchanged a look. A week might give them their memories back, but they both knew it would not answer the questions that this day's events had raised.

* * *

"Doctor Director says you're not leaving."

Shego glanced up from the Global Justice slop she was trying to force herself to eat, and shrugged. "Free food and lodging? Why wouldn't I stay?"

"You call this food?" Uninvited, the redhead slid into the chair opposite the green woman. Picking up a fork, she stared with distaste at her own meal. After spending a week at GJ HQ, waiting their memories to return, both women were heartily sick of the canteen cuisine. "I thought my mystery meat days were over once I left high school. They should hire Ron. Staff morale would soar."

"Have you spoken to the buffoon?"

Kim merely stared at her plate, chewing slowly. She hoped the green woman would let the question drop.

"Fine. Have you spoken to _Ron_?" Evidently Shego had misunderstood the reason for her silence.

"Yes, earlier today." Betty Director had recommended that neither woman contact their friends and relatives until their memories were mostly restored. Apart from a message to tell them she was safe, Kim had followed the suggestion. Shego hadn't called anyone at all, as far as she knew.

"How is he?"

"Good." Kim kept her answer short. _Please drop it._

"Looking forward to seeing you?"

Obviously she wasn't going to be that lucky. "I guess. I'm not sure when I'm going to get out to Japan, though."

The green woman paused, fork halfway raised to her mouth. A gelid lump of ... something ... slid off and dropped back to the plate with a _splat_. "What's he doing _there_?"

"Monkey business." Kim didn't raise her eyes from her plate. "Monkey Kung Fu, I mean."

"Oh. That must make a relationship hard."

"... we broke up."

Shego put her fork down. "What? When?"

"Two months ago." With considerable vigor, the redhead speared what was probably a bit of potato. "The old 'I love you, and I always will, but I'm not _in love_with you' thing."

"Ah. How'd he take it?"

Kim gave a bitter chuckle. "... he was the one who _said_ it."

Shego blinked. "Ron left you?"

"Yeah. Apparently I wasn't dealing with it very well, which is why I still had his picture in my wallet."

"From the way you just harpooned that carrot, I'm not sure you're dealing with it all that well, now." Shego's comment lacked the usual snark that Kim ... the old Kim, before the whole amnesia sitch ... had always associated with her.

Kim sighed, trying to get her thoughts and feelings in order. "I'm not in love with him, any more. But I'm re-experiencing the whole relationship, squashed into the space of one week. It's ... hard, not to be angry."

"I get it." Shego nodded.

"I guess you're the only who could." Kim agreed. Having all her memories come flooding back must have been as difficult experience for the green woman as it was for her. Which reminded her of her original reason for joining her former rival. "So why are you really staying? Because telling me it's for 'free food and lodging' is as big a pile of crap as this meal is."

Dark brows shot upward. "The things these teen heroes say today."

"You're avoiding the question."

"You are correct."

"Please don't." The redhead's quiet request was evidently not the response Shego had expected, from the stunned expression on her emerald features. "I can tell something's up with you, and I'm not going to stop hassling you until you tell me what it is."

"I can be very stubborn." Shego smirked.

"So can I." _I'm not letting this go, Shego. You haven't been yourself this last week, and I want to know why._

"Ain't _that_ the truth." Dark lips briefly curled in a half-smirk once more, but the expression quickly faded.

* * *

They sat in silence for several seconds. Eventually, Shego sighed. "I wasn't staying in Drakken's old lair because I liked the décor, Princess. I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"What about Go Tower?"

"And spend all day with Mego's narcissism and Hego's heroic bombast? Pass."

Kim gave a nod. "Okay, I guess it would be kinda rough. So why not get your own place?"

Shego snorted. "This may come as a surprise, Pumpkin, but landlords aren't like parents: they expect to be paid."

"You don't have any money?" Kim looked surprised.

"Global pardons don't come without some strings attached. All my assets were seized. Something about paying back the victims of my crimes." Shego still resented that. _Saving the world wasn't enough recompense for these people?_ "I was a sucker to take the deal. But I did, and I have to live with the fallout. Which is that I have no cash and no way to get any: the only jobs I'm qualified for are henching and teaching, and for some reason, most schools aren't keen on employing a known supervillain, reformed or not."

"So why aren't you henching?"

The green woman blinked. "What?"

Kim shrugged and pushed her plate away. "Well, if it's the_ only_ other thing you're any good at, then what else can you do?"

"Why in the hell would _you_ want me to go back to a life of crime?"

"I don't." The redhead answered mildly. "But anything is better than watching you sit there whining about how hard your life is, now. Shego the henchwoman was a feisty, take no crap smart-ass who came close to kicking my butt –"

"What do you mean, 'came close'?" Shego's temper flared.

"- and she sure as hell wouldn't give up and hide in some crappy old lair just because things got a little tough. In fact, I think she'd tell anyone who did that to pull their head out of their ass."

"Oh she would, would she?" Shego seethed as she rose to her feet, leaning forward to glare at the redhead.

"Yeah. I think she would." Kim stood as well, thrusting her face right into the green woman's. "Are you gonna tell me I'm wrong?"

For a moment, the older woman said nothing, merely gritting her teeth at the insolent challenge on the teen hero's face. She ought to smash it off the redhead. _And I would, if she wasn't damn well right. _Shego gave a harsh bark of laughter. "You have a weird-ass idea of a pep talk, Pumpkin."

Kim smiled. "Good to see it had the desired effect."

A dark eyebrow rose. "What makes you so sure it did?"

"You just called me Pumpkin. A reliable source informs me you only do that when you want to piss me off." Kim paused, then added softly. "It was good to see the fire back in you. I've missed it, this past week."

"Me too." Shego admitted. "And for a lot longer than a week. Huh. I guess this means I owe you one."

"I guess you do."

"Then here's a down-payment." Shego grasped the younger woman's chin and kissed her firmly on the mouth. Kim gasped at the unexpected content, and the green woman couldn't resist the urge to run her tongue along the inside of the redhead's upper lip.

Pulling back, the dark-haired beauty gave a smoldering smirk at the teen hero's stunned expression.

"Play with fire, Pumpkin, and you're gonna get burned. Catch ya later. I'm outta this crap-heap."

* * *

Shego somersaulted over the silent, darkened aisle, landing with cat-like stealth on the high shelves. Twenty feet below, oblivious to the intrusion, a security droid trundled slowly on its patrol.

_360 degree arc of detection_. The green woman gave a silent snort. _Provided you're stupid enough to stay at floor level_.

A soft _whirr_ was her only warning. A second droid, this one suspended on electromagnetic repulsion fields, swooped out of the darkness. It gave a soft beep as its visual receptors attempted to record her appearance. Shego smirked behind her mask. They were going to have to work a little harder to identify her than that.

The droid lunged forward. The same electromagnetic field that suspended it would also make an effective taser.

Of course, that only worked if it hit her, which it wouldn't. The green woman twisted easily out of the way, her left hand whipping out as she did so. No plasma flared from the lightning fast strike. After all, there weren't going to be any other burglars who could pull _that_ trick.

The industrial strength magnet in her hand struck the droid's metallic shell with a faint _clunk_. It bound instantly, with a force of over one hundred pounds per square inch. The delicate equilibrium of the droid's electromagnetic flight was catastrophically compromised. It lurched sideways, then spun off into the darkness with a soft whine of malfunction.

Of course, the droid would have triggered the alarm before it engaged her. She had three minutes until the place was swarming with guards. _More than enough time_. Two more leaps, as silent as the first, and the plasma-powered woman dropped into the center of the world's largest commercial Christmas display. At its heart, a one-of-a-kind, mint condition, still-in-box Snowman Hank. The most valuable toy on the planet. She tucked it jauntily under one arm.

"Excuse me, ma'am." A soft contralto interrupted her. "Store hours are 7am to 9pm, seven days a week."

"Kimmie." The green-skinned woman turned, watching as the lithe redhead leapt down from a nearby display of _Lorwardian Invasion_ video games. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Really?" The redhead folded her arms and did a passable attempt at a single raised eyebrow. "Because it looks like you're performing an audit of Smarty Mart's security before the Christmas displays are deployed to the whole chain."

Shego paused, then shrugged and pulled off her mask. "Okay, so it _is _what it looks like. I always figured that nerdlinger would track me down eventually. Kinda surprised it took a month, actually."

"It didn't." Kim admitted. Strolling over, she held out her hand. Shego passed her the Snowman Hank, and the redhead put it back in its place. "Martin Smarty called me when you applied for the consultancy job, to see if I thought you were setting him up."

Shego leaned back against a counter and raised her eyebrows. "And what did you say?"

"That if you wanted to rob him, you would." Kim grinned, wandering around the peering at the various details of the display. "And that you wouldn't waste time making a false job application to do it."

"You got that right." The green woman admitted. She waited silently for a moment, to see what Kim would say next, but the redhead simply continued to stroll around, not looking in the green woman's direction. "Okay, Pumpkin. I doubt you interrupted me here just to tell me you gave me a good reference. What, as you would say, is the 'sitch'?"

Kim shrugged, still not meeting Shego's eyes. "I wanted to see you."

"Yeah, I got that. What about?"

"The last time we saw each other, I was kind of rude." Kim tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah you were." Shego grinned at the memory. "But you gave me the kick up the ass I needed."

"So you're enjoying your new life?"

" ... yeah. The job's kinda fun, and the benefits package is great." The green woman straightened up, unfolding her arms, and instead dropped her hands to her hips. "What's this about, Kimmie?"

The redhead shrugged, finally turning toward the taller woman and raising her head. Shego was surprised by the intensity of the redhead's expression. This was definitely not just a casual chat.

"I ... I've been thinking about how you said you owed me for what I did. I wondered if you still felt that way?"

"Um." Shego was not often short of a quip, but this was one of those rare occasions. "Since you got me to stop sulking in a dank hole in the ground and get on with my life ... yeah, I guess I do."

"Okay. Good." The redhead seemed to be talking more to herself than to her companion. She shifted, stepping closer to the green woman, her eyes dropping again. "Do you remember what you did after that?"

A brief smirk played over dark lips. _Oh boy do I ever_. There were few days that went by where she didn't think about that stolen kiss. _But where the hell is Kimmie going with this?_ "Uh ... something about a down payment, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Kim nodded. "I've been thinking about that ... quite a lot."

"Oh." Shego tensed up. _Probably should have expected Princess would want an apology for that, sooner or later._ Not that she was just going to volunteer one. "... and?"

"I was wondering ..." Kim stepped forward, tilting her head up, so that her olive green eyes were only inches from Shego's emerald ones. "When do I get to collect the balance?"

"Uh ..." _There's no way I heard that right._

"Speechless, you?" Kim gave a soft laugh, reaching up to cup Shego's cheek with one hand.

"Uh." The green woman croaked again, then swallowed and tried for a third time. "... pretty much, yeah."

"Well if you're not going to talk, maybe you can find another use for those lips of yours?"

As it turned out, Shego could.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Kim's referring to _kissing_, for the record. Geez :)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little bubblegum piece of fiction. It was a nice change of pace for me to write.


End file.
